Easter Day, Yr A (2026) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Easter Day, Yr A (2026)                                                                  The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

John 20:1-18                                                                              St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

In the name of the one, holy, and loving God:

            who was, and is, and is to come.  Amen.

Back in my younger years,

            I would ride my bike to work.

In the mornings,

I enjoyed the pre-dawn darkness.

There were few cars on the roads,

            and the streetlights were still glowing in the dark.

As I rode along,

            I delighted in hearing the birds chirping their wake-up songs.

And then as the sun began to rise,

            the sky would turn all colors of peach and purple

       before the golden light arrived in earnest.

It was a miracle to witness the world waking up each morning.

In today’s gospel,

            we hear that “early on the first day of the week,

                        while it was still dark,

       Mary Magdalene came to the tomb.”

We don’t know what brought her there.

Perhaps she was seeking the solace of being near Jesus’ body.

She had stood nearby,

            watching with horror,

      as her teacher…her hope…her love

had been crucified.

So, perhaps, this morning she might find a little Peace

            if she could come near to him and mourn.

And yet,

            when she arrived,

      she saw that the stone had been rolled away!

Disheartened once again,

            she immediately ran to find Peter and the other beloved disciple.

Mary had not even looked into the tomb.

Perhaps she thought it was too dark to see inside.

            Or, perhaps, she was so filled with shock and grief

      that she ran to get help…

                        she ran to find someone to accompany her.

By the time they all arrived back at the tomb,

            the sun had apparently risen enough for them to see inside.

The beloved disciple peered in and saw the linen wrappings lying there,

            but did not venture inside.

Peter, of course,

            rushes right in to the tomb

       without first looking in.

The other disciple then joins him.

After surveying the empty tomb,

            they go home.

They go home…

            nothing to see here.

But Mary…

            who, at this point, is simply beside herself,

      stands weeping outside the tomb.

She finally braces herself

            and peers inside.

Lo and behold…

            there are two angels all decked out in white,

       sitting in the spot where they had laid Jesus.

“Woman, why are you weeping?”

I am looking for my Lord…

            I cannot find him.

As she turns,

she sees Jesus

       but doesn’t recognize him.

So she asks him for Jesus’ body so that she may take him.

“Mary,” he says.

He knows her name.

            She knows his voice.

“Rabbouni!”

Her heart skips 10 beats.

The sun is fully risen now,

            and she can see clearly.

Jesus knows Mary’s heart.

He knows that she wants to grab hold of him

and never let go.

Mary had lost Jesus once…

            she wasn’t going to let that happen again.

But he says to her,

            “Do not hold on to me….”

       Go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending.

So, Mary Magdalene goes and announces to the disciples:

            “I have seen the Lord.”

It must have taken everything she had to leave Jesus there.

Or, maybe just as surely as the sun had risen on a dark day,

            she knew that everything would be alright…

      Jesus had risen just like he said he would.

New life awaited.

She did not have to hold on to the old one.

Clarence Jordan, theologian and activist, said:

“The crowning evidence that Jesus was alive was not a vacant grave,

            but a spirit-filled fellowship.

“Not a rolled-away stone,

            but a carried-away church.”

I find Jesus’ words to Mary very interesting:

            “Do not hold on to me.”

Reminds me of Peter wanting to make three tents up on that mountain

            for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah!

Let’s preserve the Holy moment.

Except, it is not for us to “preserve.”

            It is for us to share!

Mary went and proclaimed to the disciples:

            “I have seen the Lord!”

We gather here this morning to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

I wonder: What is it to witness an empty grave

            if it has no effect upon our lives?

What is it to exclaim that Jesus is risen

            if others cannot see the reflection of Jesus through our words and actions?

How do we bear witness to the love, mercy, forgiveness, and Peace of Christ?

This is our calling.

            This is what Easter is all about.

As each day dawns

            and the sun rises anew,

      perhaps we could ask God to give us whatever we need for the day

in order to reflect God’s love.

What God calls us to may be something different than what we expected…

            or the way we used to do things.

Instead of clinging to the old…

            may we have the Grace to embrace new life.

This morning as we proclaim that Christ is risen,

            may we go forth, and with boldness,

      share the Good News with a world in need of Christ’s healing love and Light.

Alleluia! Alleluia!  Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed.  Alleluia! Alleluia!